Should it stay or should it go? The fate of the big birch tree shown above is one of the issues that came up as about 50 people joined in the first design meeting for the new 34th/Barton P-Patch, Saturday afternoon at Southwest Community Center.
Landscape architect John Barker, who’s leading the design work, told attendees that an arborist checked out the tree with him earlier in the day, and proclaimed it to be perhaps the healthiest European paper-birch tree she had seen in the city. On the other hand, materials prepared for the meeting show it casts a significant shadow, so the design process will have to determine whether that’s an impediment to maximizing the site, or perhaps a feature for cool shade on warm summer days. Toward the start of the meeting, a show of hands was requested, and the “keep the tree” hand-raisers significantly outnumbered those supporting “take out the tree” – which is the only tree of any kind on the site. Barker estimated that it would cost about the same to keep it or get rid of it.
But the tree’s future was just one topic, albeit one that took up a fair amount of time.
Beyond that, the heart of the meeting involved giving each of the 8 tables of participants a large photocopied sheet of paper with a basic image of the site, and “gamepieces” – as one attendee dubbed them – to place on the site to show what features they would favor.
For example, as Barker noted, depending on the size of the plots, the site could hold more than 50 individual gardens, given its size. Here’s another perspective:
Barker said, “We are really excited about this site because it’s a big site, really visible, great solar exposure for the most part, and could potentially change the character of the neighborhood.” (And yes, the soil has been tested for safety, he confirmed.)
Before the two-hour meeting wrapped up, each of the eight groups sent a representative up to the front of the room to explain what they had come up with. One group favoring removal of the birch tree suggested planting fruit and nut trees along the street instead. Another group suggested a pathway through the site, acknowledging the fact that it’s used by some as a walking route anyway. Several made a point of proposing plantings to screen the P-Patch from the house on the south side of the site – such as a fence on which fruit plants like blueberries and kiwis could grow. One group wanted to be sure there would be a bike rack; some called for arts and crafts areas, features specifically for kids, and even water features. The fifth presenter said her group liked so many of the potential features, “we threw almost everything in there,” with slightly “chaotic” results. And another of the groups that designed the P-Patch with the birch tree remaining suggested gathering spaces beneath it.
According to Laura Raymond from the city’s P-Patch program, about $35,000 is budgeted to design and build the features for the large lot, procured through the Parks and Green Spaces Levy (local community leader Pete Spalding, now chairing the levy’s Oversight Committee, was on hand for most of the meeting). She said this is the first time in the P-Patch program’s 37-year history that money is available for brand-new gardens. It’s been almost two years since the possibility of turning this site into a P-Patch came up at a PGS committee meeting (here’s our report from that meeting in May 2009), a few months after the city had declared the property surplus and solicited suggestions for its future.
So when will the sprawling lot – east of the new 7-Eleven and south of the newly reopened Tony’s Market – actually be in service? Raymond projected that’ll take six to nine months. “But the fact you’re all here,” she told the attendees cheerily, “is going to make it happen faster.” Next step is the next design meeting on March 1st; that one is also at SW Community Center, but it’s in the evening, 6:30-8:30 pm.
What happens between now and then? Barker said the eight concepts will be summarized “in words,” as well as analyzed for how many times in all, between the eight concepts, certain features were mentioned, “so there will be a statistical analysis … Our plans will be based on your plans. March 1st, we’ll bring that all back to you – that’ll get turned into two or three plans, and then into a plan that hopefully everybody likes.”
In the meantime, the city website for project information is here – and that page has information on how to share your thoughts about the new P-Patch even if you can’t make it to any of the meetings. Lots of volunteer work has gone into the garden so far, and lots more is needed, even for the committees that already have chairs, so you can use the information (including e-mail addresses) on that page to get involved, too.
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